“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.”
—Pele
Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. It is not defined by wealth but by contentment. Success depends on hard work, sustained toil, determination and perseverance. It is not a question of luck. Remember that success is not the key to happiness but happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Our best successes are often accompanied by our greatest disappointments.
Many of us are not willing to try but want to enjoy the fruits of
success without any hard work, sacrifice or struggle. Life has its own
struggles. These struggles motivate us
to move forward. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection. To
succeed in life and achieve results, you must master three mighty
forces—Desire, Belief and Expectation. Many a time, when we are confronted with
a problem, we analyse and get stuck up with it
rather than finding a solution to it. Sometimes from the remains or wreckage,
we find a hidden opportunity. Our response to our struggles decides how we move
forward.
The only thing that can stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you. It is our attitude to deal with adversities and circumstances that helps us to achieve success. The road that leads to success is not easy, we need to face hardships, disappointments, breakdowns, losses and physical and emotional pains. India’s struggle for independence was never easy. It was not in a day that we gained independence. Many movements were launched and innumerable people laid down their lives. It was not easy for them as well. We are often not ready to come out of our comfort zone to achieve success. Our fears hold us back and often stand as a stumbling block when we try to move ahead. Having a courageous spirit is important.
You alone are the captain of your soul and decider of your destiny. Others may walk it with you but no one can walk it for you. Your decisions today will follow you tomorrow. You have to toil hard, lift the load and sweat profusely to reach the goal. Try not to compare yourself with others as individual goals vary. Our body has many organs, each one has different roles and we cannot say that eyes are more important than the ears. The vital organs like heart, brain or kidneys cannot be seen yet they function continuously. We should not be discouraged as each of us is gifted with different talents. We need to discover them and search for a creative solution. We need to have a sense of purpose.
The certainty of life is that it is uncertain. Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and legs, but that did not stop him from being successful. Today he is a motivational speaker and continues to inspire and touch the lives of many. It is the choices that we make that lead to success. When life gives lemons, make lemonade out of them. We need to access risks and laugh at life.
Life is not an accident. The choices that we make determine our success. We can either choose self-defeat and self-pity or self-motivation and self-encouragement.
Desire to succeed in life should motivate us to move forward. Many a time it is because of our attitude that we are not able to come up in life. We sometimes lack our desire to come up and take life as it comes but until and unless we have a desire, we remain in our state of self-comfort. Life is not a bed of roses. We should have a desire that burns like a fire which helps us to move forward. “Despair is the conclusion of fools” as said by Benjamin Disraeli.
We can improve our attitude by self-coaching through affirmations. These affirmations send a positive response to the subconscious mind. Joseph Murphy’s Power of Your Subconscious Mind is a wonderful book that discusses that subconscious obstacles often prevent us from achieving our goals. His work demonstrates that we can overcome fears, phobias and bad habits, to effect physical healing and promote overall well-being and happiness.
Failing is a part of life which teaches us many things. Without failing, success is almost impossible. We need to learn how to bounce back from failures. The work of J.K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter series was rejected by 12 publishers before going on to fame and fortune. You may stumble, people will doubt you and you need to build yourselves from the stones thrown at you. We need to have a positive attitude. Achievement is not just about the happy, shiny things—it is also about withstanding tough times and challenging situations. Resilience demonstrated under pressure is perhaps the darker side of achievement, but is in many ways just as important as the more obvious markers of success.
As motivational philosopher Jim Rohn so aptly puts it, “You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you.” You must do them yourself if you are to get any value out of them. If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings—everything!
You will never become successful as long as you continue to blame someone or something else for your lack of success. If you are going to be a winner, you have to acknowledge the truth—it is you who took the actions, thought the thoughts, created the feelings, and made the choices that got you to where you now are. It was you! The person with the negative attitude sees limitations. The person with the positive attitude sees possibilities. “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success”, says Dr. Joyce Brothers.Success is the effect generated by right thinking and right actions. Success and failure are not accidents but consequences. If you want to know what you sowed in the past, look around you and see what you are reaping today. You begin your climb towards your full potential as a human being the moment you accept the truth that cause and consequence are inseparable. You are rich with choice, and your choices reveal who you really are. More than any other single factor, you are where you are today because of the choices you have made. As Niccolo Machiavelli says: “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great”.